In agenda change, Rincon Valley to focus on Santa Rosa fire contract first

March 24, 2014, 10:22PM

03/24/2014

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The Rincon Valley Fire Protection District board has pulled from its Tuesday agenda further exploring consolidation with Windsor's fire district.

The board was set to vote on whether it wanted to pursue consolidation or whether it wanted to inquire about Santa Rosa's interest contracting for fire services in Rincon Valley's sprawling coverage area.

Removing the consolidation proposal, which has been under consideration for two years and would have created a unified fire department called Central Fire Authority, does not indicate a board preference of one option over the other, Rincon Valley Fire Chief Doug Williams.

Rather it indicates the board saw benefit in focusing on the Santa Rosa option first, he said.

"Neither one of these options were anything other than to do the fact-finding," Williams said.

It's not clear if Santa Rosa officials are interested in providing services to Rincon Valley, and the board felt that question should be answered first, he said.

"It came down to saying "OK, let's see if we can get the first question answered and then we'll take another step,'" Williams said.

If the board opts to contract with Santa Rosa, Rincon Valley firefighters would become Santa Rosa firefighters, and would enjoy an increase in pay and benefits, union leaders have said.